Family identifies Dallas resident who was victim of Texas Giant accident

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Sarah Hoffman/Staff Photographer

The entrance to the Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas was blocked off Saturday as the roller coaster remained closed after the death of a rider. Rosy Esparza of Dallas died Friday evening after falling from the ride at the Arlington theme park.

Update at 4:22 p.m.: The family of the woman who fell to her death Friday night has identified her as Rosy Esparza of Dallas.

Update at 11:15 a.m.: Six Flags released another short statement early Saturday morning:

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family. The investigation into the death at Texas Giant is still ongoing. We are working closely with authorities to determine the cause of the accident. The ride will remain closed. In addition, we have canceled the concert that was scheduled for today."

The park clarified that the investigation is "internal" and no other park attractions will be closed because of the accident.

The KIDZ Star USA talent search auditions on Saturday and Sunday have been cancelled. This follows the earlier cancellation of a Saturday night concert from Bridgit Mendler.

Original story: Six Flags Over Texas announced Saturday morning that the Texas Giant roller coaster will remain closed as authorities investigate a woman's fatal plunge from the Texas Giant roller coaster Friday night.

The Arlington amusement park still has released few details beyond reporting that its medical staff and city paramedics had responded immediately. The victim’s name was not released.

Besides keeping the ride closed, Six Flags has canceled a concert by singer and actress Bridgit Mendler that had been scheduled for Saturday night.

Park officials offered their condolences to the woman’s family as investigators began to study the cause of the accident, which occurred after 6:30 p.m. Although the ride was closed, the park remained open through the evening.

Early attention was beginning to focus on witnesses’ reports that the woman’s safety restraint may have come undone.

Carmen Brown of Arlington was waiting in line as the victim was being secured in for the ride. She said she believed that the woman’s son was on the ride with her.

Brown said the woman had expressed concern to a park employee that she was not secured correctly in her seat.

“He was basically nonchalant,” Brown said. “He was, like, ‘As long as you heard it click, you’re fine.’ Hers was the only one that went down once, and she didn’t feel safe. But they let her still get on the ride.”

She said the victim fell out of the ride as it made a sudden maneuver.

Investigators were interviewing witnesses on the ride, some of whom reported that the woman had been thrown from the roller coaster as it rounded a turn. Arlington police declined to comment on the accident.

Hysterical passengers had to wait to disembark as the train stopped short of the platform.

John and Darlene Putman of Rockwall said they were in line to board the roller coaster as the train in which the woman had been riding returned.

John Putman told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he heard two people screaming, “‘My mom! My mom! Let us out, we need to go get her!’”

Reports from park visitors began spreading rapidly on social media online, drawing worried parents and others to the gates to check on family members.

Joshua Paul Fleak posted on Twitter that he believed that the woman’s restraint had come undone.

“Just witnessed someone fly off of the Texas giant two seats in front of me,” he said. “… Coaster turned and she was gone.”

The Texas Giant opened in 1990 as the world’s tallest wooden roller coaster but was closed in November 2009 to convert it to a steel-and-wood hybrid.

Although the rebuilt ride incorporates some of the original structure, it includes 4,700 feet of new track.

When it reopened in April 2011, the expanded coaster offered a smoother ride and a higher top speed of 65 mph. It features a 79-degree drop and three turns sharper than 90 degrees.

Friday’s accident was the second ride fatality for a guest at the park since it opened in 1961.

In 1999, Valeria Cartwright of West Helena, Ark., drowned when a Roaring Rapids raft capsized. Ten other people were injured in that accident.

In March 2006, passengers on the park’s Texas Tornado ride reported injuries when the ride slowed rapidly and several of its swings collided.

In another amusement park accident Friday, a boat on a thrill ride at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, rolled backward down a hill and flipped over in water when the ride malfunctioned, injuring all seven people on it.

Six Flags Entertainment Corp. emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2010 after the company said it needed to shed $1.8 billion in debt. In April, the company posted record revenue.

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